Babita Deokaran murder: Implicated ‘tender don’ family trust owns property worth millions – report

More revelations into the payments red flagged by whistleblower Babita Deokaran before she was killed involving a businessman known as the “Tembisa ‘don'” have surfaced.

A family trust controlled by Hangwani Morgan Maumela boasts a R280-million property portfolio spanning from Zimbali to Camps Bay, News24 revealed in its latest ‘Silenced’ investigative report.

Maumela and a relative had reportedly scored R380 million in tenders from the Gauteng health department since 2019.

A percentage of these payments were among those flagged by Deokaran in a report into “possibly fraudulent” transactions out of Tembisa Hospital three weeks before she died.

ALSO READ: Tembisa Hospital’s R500 000 skinny jeans contract one of the deals Babita Deokaran died for

Established in 2016, the MHR Maumela Family Trust acquired a home in a Hyde Park residential complex worth R25 million within a year.

The most recent purchase is reported to be a R16 million property in Oxford Road, Sandhurst.

Silenced

53-year-old Deokaran was the acting chief financial officer at the Gauteng Provincial Government Department of Health when she was gunned down on 23 August 2021 as she arrived at her Winchester Hills home in Johannesburg after from dropping her daughter off at school.

Deokaran was killed after flagging Covid PPE procurement corruption to the value of R332 million in the provincial health department and was a key witness for the Special Investigative Unit probe into a syndicate setup to benefit from state corruption.

Information obtained from the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission indicates that Maumela and his sister both have ties to four entities flagged by Deokaran.

ALSO READ: Babita Deokaran murder: ‘Distant’ relative of Ramaphosa implicated in dodgy Tembisa Hospital tenders

News24 has revealed that Maumela took complete control of Exclusive Pioneers Trading Enterprise, Hybird Pioneering Trading Enterprise, Magnolia Trading Enterprise and MHR Premium Trading Enterprise on the day the whistleblower was assassinated, replacing his sister as sole director. 

This change occurred after Deokaran identified nearly R10 million in payments which were due to flow into their company accounts.

Other listed trustees, according to News24, are the businessman’s sister, Rumani, and his mother, Mboneni. 

Extravagant

The expose reveals how the Hyde Park property, boasting a five-car garage, bar and cinema, was this year listed for sale at a price of R38 million. 

The trust reportedly bought two homes set within the Zimbali Estate, north of Durban, with a collective value of R35 million. 

In July 2020, the trust bagged a lavish Bantry Bay property that is positioned on Victoria Road, where a square metre of real estate averaged R80 000.  

Maumela, 39, is a distant relative by marriage to President Cyril Ramaphosa, and neighbour and associate to his principal political advisor, Bejani Chauke, the publication revealed in its previous report.

The president has denied any knowledge of Maumela’s business dealings, and said he had no relationship with the businessman.

NOW READ: Tembisa Hospital’s R500 000 skinny jeans contract one of the deals Babita Deokaran died for

Compiled by Sipho Mabena.